On Friday, Nov. 11 approximately 75 California Lutheran University staff, faculty and students participated in a march across campus in support of an inclusive Cal Lutheran community.

The crowd walked from the Cal Lutheran flagpole to the Enormous Luther statue holding signs that portrayed their message of peace, solidarity and tolerance then gathered around the statue for open mic speeches pertaining to their feelings of the election results.

Cynthia Duarte, the director for the Center of Equality and Justice at Cal Lutheran, said that she and other faculty members, organized the event to show the mission and values that Cal Lutheran holds.

“Concerned faculty said that we needed physical support and messaging. There are certain things that Cal Lutheran does not tolerate and that is intolerance and discrimination,” Duarte said.

Some Cal Lutheran community members, ministry leaders and students, shared their thoughts and feelings about tolerance and respect in regards to the election results.

“We can tolerate political differences but we cannot tolerate discrimination and prejudice,” Duarte said.

Duarte said she was pleased with how the event turned out because she thought it went very peacefully and respectful.

The crowd cheered on each person who spoke and participated in a unity clap, which was a gradual round of applause that the whole crowd did in unison until it turned into to cheering, to finish off the rally.

Senior Michelle Cerami, who participated in the walk and gave a speech in the rally, said she was also very pleased with the turnout of the rally.

“It was incredible seeing the amount of students here especially because it wasn’t student led it was faculty led,” Cerami said.

President Chris Kimball was amongst the many members of the Cal Lutheran community who participated in the walk and gathered to listen to those who spoke.

“I’m just really glad that everyone came peacefully and in solidarity,” Cerami said.

The walk and rally convened around 10:30 a.m., however, there was another rally that was student-led later on in the day. The student-led rally at 2 p.m. did not involve a march but it was intended to portray the same message of inclusiveness and tolerance on the Cal Lutheran campus.

Senior Sophia Roberts said that she and her friends organized the student-led rally because they also wanted to show their support for anyone at Cal Lutheran who felt marginalized.

“We wanted to create a space that was safe and in support of all the people that feel threatened,” Roberts said. “This is just a supportive effort to stand together.”

Although the two events were planned separately, both Roberts and Duarte said that they liked how there was support from both the faculty and the students.

“The fact that the staff organized something similar,I think is amazing because it totally supports everything that we’re aiming towards as well,” Roberts said.

Both the staff-led and the student-led rallies drew the attention and general support within the Cal Lutheran community.

Alli Barton
Staff Writer